Welcome to The Upgrade

Welcome to my weekly newsletter, which focuses on the intersection of AI, media, and storytelling. This is a special update regarding the unfolding drama at OpenAI.

In today’s issue:

• 💡Chaos at OpenAI: What You Should Know

• 🗞️ Top AI Stories on the Chaos at OpenAI

• 💭 3 Things you Should do Right Now to Hedge

💡Chaos at OpenAI: What You Should Know

The past few days have been tumultuous in the nascent AI field and industry. Here is a brief recap of the significant events of the last 96 hours:

• On Friday, the board of directors dismissed Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI, which operates ChatGPT. According to the board, Altman was removed from his role as CEO of OpenAI due to a loss of confidence after concluding that he was not consistently candid in his communications with them.

• The exact reasoning behind Sam’s dismissal is still not entirely clear. Early reporting indicates that it may be due to OpenAI moving too fast in its development process for the board’s liking. It is important to note that the OpenAI board does not represent shareholders but is an NGO board with broader interests in line with their original charter. OpenAI’s dual NGO & for-profit status is legally complex and critical to the ongoing debacle.

• Today, Satya Nadella announced that Altman would join Microsoft, a 49% shareholder in OpenAI, along with former OpenAI board president Greg Brockman, who resigned in protest of his colleagues’ decision to dismiss Sam. However, that deal remains unconfirmed amid reports that Altman is still trying to return to OpenAI as CEO.

• Also today, an open letter from over 500 OpenAI employees began circulating, demanding that the board bring Altman back, or they would defect to Microsoft and join the new AI team that Altman will lead.

• Also today, the board of directors at OpenAI hired a new CEO, Emmett Shear, the co-founder of livestreaming platform Twitch, who has limited domain expertise in AI. This happened only after interim CEO, former OpenAI CTO, Mira, was removed by the board.

Here is why this is important for all of us learning how to apply AI tools in our professional lives, including my readers and students at The Upgrade. AI talent and the industry’s balance of power are being redistributed among the major players right now. It is unclear what things will look like at OpenAI as an organization in a few hours, days, weeks, or months. Foreseeing what will happen to ChatGPT as a product at this stage is extremely difficult.

The time and money you have invested in learning tools like ChatGPT is not wasted! This is true whether you are learning independently or through The Upgrade. The skills you are developing will be relevant to other Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI chatbots, of which there are countless. (My curriculum is model-independent, and we will discuss and test alternatives to GPT4, such as Claude by Anthropic.) The tumult of OpenAI these past few days should make us all realize how important it is to continue to diversify and be model-agnostic in our approach as users of AI tools in our work as media & marketing professionals!

Prompting techniques, strategies, and workflows will evolve as AI products change, but the fundamental principles and strategies will remain relevant. Knowledge workers learning to interact critically with these new technologies will be well-served in the future as the AI tech landscape continues to change and evolve. I will do my best to stay ahead of the curve and update you later this week about what the ongoing OpenAI news means for us as professional communicators and storytellers. Things will change between now and then, but my commitment to The Upgrade community remains steadfast!

⚡️Peter

Top Stories on the Chaos at OpenAI

Reporting

• Turmoil at OpenAI: after firing Sam Altman, what’s the next for the creators of ChatGPT? — The Verge

• New OpenAI CEO Emmett Shear Lands at Center of High-Stakes AI Boom — The Wall Street Journal

• Sam Altman is still trying to return as OpenAI CEO — The Verge

Opinion & Analysis

• What the OpenAI Drama Means for ChatGPT Users — Media Copilot

• The Winners and Losers of OpenAI’s Wild Weekend — The Shift from The New York Times

Podcasts

• Chaos at OpenAI — The Verge (audio)

• What just happened to OpenAI — Recode Media (audio)

• OpenAI’s Weekend of Absolute Chaos — The Journal (audio)

3 Things You Should Do Right Now 🤖

Explore Alternative AI Platforms: ChatGPT users should look for alternative AI platforms and chatbot technologies. Many other companies and research organizations are developing similar AI technologies. Chief among those is Claude from Anthropic, whose founders defected from OpenAI. It's essential to research and identify which platforms align best with your specific needs, whether for personal use, business applications, or development purposes. Would a guide to OpenAI competitors be helpful to you? Let me know!

Backup Important Data: If you have critical data or information generated through interactions with ChatGPT, it would be wise to back it up ASAP! This could include conversation logs, generated content, or any other valuable information derived from ChatGPT. Having a backup ensures that important information is not lost and can be accessed or utilized with other tools or platforms in the future. Instead of copying and pasting everything manually, try this GoFullPage Chrome extension for easy screen capturing and exporting your ChatGPT conversations as PDFs!

Stay Informed, but Take a Deep Breath: The AI field is rapidly evolving, and we all need to stay informed about the latest developments and trends. I’m here to help so you can rest easy over the celebratory week here in the US—I will provide further updates later this week. In the meantime, take a break and enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday!

New AI Course Dates Coming Soon! 🗓️

AI Fundamentals for Professional Marketers & Communicators and AI Boost for Professional Communicators & Marketers are currently underway! Be on the lookout for next year’s course dates, which will be released in the coming weeks.

Don’t be shy—hit reply if you have thoughts or feedback. I’d love to connect with you!

Until next week,

Peter

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